Abstract Submission

Invitation to Submit – Call for Abstracts CLOSED

We invite you to submit an abstract for consideration for the 16th National Allied Health Conference being held from 11 – 14 August 2025 in Adelaide and Online.

The National Allied Health Conference provides an excellent opportunity for allied health professionals from across Australia to showcase their work, engage in networking, critical thought and discussion to encourage innovation in clinical practice, research and service delivery. The audience at the conference will consist of a broad variety of allied health stakeholders from different parts of the health sector in clinical practice, research, education, policy and workforce development.

Authors are invited to submit an abstract summarising interesting and topical research, quality or other initiatives within any of the conference themes listed below. Submissions are sought for Oral Presentations, Lightning Oral Presentations, and Poster presentations. All abstract submissions not accepted for oral presentation will be considered for a Poster display.

We encourage submissions from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allied health professionals, students, researchers, educators, and health and community workers.

Presentations are encouraged to be focused on original research, case studies, frameworks, or practical applications relevant to the Empowering Lives, Shaping Healthcare theme. Submissions will be reviewed by our program committee to ensure the selection of high-quality contributions for presentation.

With the conference going ahead in hybrid format, presenters can register and present either onsite in Adelaide, or online.

To submit your abstract, please visit our submission portal on this website and follow the instructions provided. Please don’t hesitate to contact our conference managers, at mail@conferencedesign.com.au, if you have any questions.

We look forward to receiving your abstract and having you join us for an inspiring and stimulating conference.

Kind regards,

National Allied Health Committee

Submit an Abstract

Abstract Submission
Submission Instructions
Presentation Formats
Presentation Themes
Review & Selection Process
Other Information

Important Dates

  • Call for Presentations Open
    May 2024
  • Call for Presentations Close – EXTENDED
    12:00pm (midday) AEDT – 17 March 2025
  • Abstract Notification
    9 May 2025
  • Presenter Registration Closes
    2 June 2025
  • Conference Starts 
    11 August 2025

Abstract Submission Instructions

All abstracts are submitted online via the portal above.

Please ensure you only submit an abstract once, and for your preferred presentation type. Do not submit the same abstract for consideration as an oral, lightning and poster, the committee will use their discretion on what presentation type they believe an abstract should be accepted as.

1. Prepare your Abstract

  • Title: Use a descriptive title of up to fifteen words that indicates the content of the abstract. Titles are printed in uppercase.
  • Authors:  Include the given name and family name of every contributing author, separated by a comma.
  • Affiliations: Include each author’s organisation, suburb, state, and email address (optional). The presenter will be indicated in the program, not the abstract.
  • Abstract: Prepare a 250-word abstract for all presentation types including:
    • The purpose of the presentation
    • The nature and scope of the topic
    • The issue or problem under consideration
    • The outcome of the conclusion reached.

2. Corresponding Author

Open the submission portal and enter the contact details of the corresponding author.

3. Abstract Submission Details

You will need to enter the following details for each abstract you submit:

  • Presentation title (15 words)
  • Preferred presentation format
  • Preferred theme
  • Names of authors
  • Affiliations of authors
  • Indicate the presenter.
  • Short biography of the presenter (100 words)
  • Abstract (250 words)
  • Nominate which Award you wish to be considered for

Presenter Registration

All presenters must register for the conference and pay the appropriate registration fee. Presenters also need to meet their own travel and accommodation costs.

Correspondence

The submitting author will be the only point of contact for all communication regarding the abstract, including acceptance notification.

Travel Grants & Scholarships

The conference will not be able to offer any travel grants or scholarships to present or attend. Presenters need to meet their own travel and accommodation costs.

Abstract Guidelines

  • You must declare a potential conflict of interest.
  • Ensure that your abstract is grammatically correct and free of other errors.
  • Use single spacing for all text.
  • Do not use abbreviations in the title of the abstract
  • When using abbreviations in the abstract, spell them out in full at the first mention
  • Capitalise the first letter in trade names.
  • Abstracts should NOT contain references, tables, or figures.
  • Accepted abstracts will appear exactly as submitted.
  • Industry representatives are welcome to submit an abstract for consideration, however, submissions that are commercially or sales-focused will not be considered

Presentation Themes

Select one of the following theme options when submitting your abstracts.

  1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
  2. Acute Care
  3. Advanced Scope of Practice
  4. Aging
  5. Allied Health Assistants
  6. Chronic Disease Management
  7. Consumer Engagement
  8. Digital Health and Technology
  9. Disability / National Disability Insurance Scheme
  10. Diversity
  11. Education
  12. Environmental Sustainability
  13. Health and Wellbeing of Allied Health Staff
  14. Hospital Avoidance, Discharge and Transition
  15. Innovation and Creativity
  16. Integrated Healthcare
  17. Leadership
  18. Mental Health
  19. Models of Care
  20. Paediatrics
  21. Partnerships and Interfaces
  22. Patient Centred Care and Shared Decision Making
  23. Prehabilitation
  24. Private Practice / Primary Care
  25. Quality and Safety
  26. Rehabilitation
  27. Research – Capacity, Capability, Translations
  28. Rural Health
  29. Scope of Clinical Practice
  30. Transitions including between care settings (from paediatric to adult services)
  31. Value Based Healthcare
  32. Wellbeing
  33. Workforce Planning and Development
  34. Other

Presentation Formats

You are asked to note a preferred presentation format when submitting as there are limited places, particularly for oral presentations, the committee may request that you consider an alternative format. Authors will be advised and asked to confirm if they wish to present in the new format.

Oral Presentations

Oral presentations will be allocated 15 minutes, including 3 minutes for question time. Oral presentations will be grouped into 60 or 90-minute sessions on a common theme.

  • A 15-minute presentation, including 3 minutes for questions.

Lightning Oral Presentations

Lightning Oral presentations are short, focused oral talks that allow presenters to quickly share a concise overview of their research or a specific aspect of their work. Lightning talks will be part of a session featuring multiple presenters.

  • A 5-minute presentation
  • A maximum of 3 PowerPoint slides including the title slide

Awards

Please check the Awards Program page for submission details.

Display Posters

Display posters allow for direct interactions with other attendees and facilitate detailed discussions. Posters can present research in progress, projects, clinical topics, quality improvement initiatives, and case studies.

  • An A0-size portrait poster displayed for the duration of the conference (if attending onsite).
  • The abstract and a PDF of each poster will be included in the conference app for delegates to view on their smart devices.
  • Presenters will also be asked to attend their poster during a poster viewing session to discuss the poster with other delegates (if attending onsite).

Display Poster Printing

If your submission is accepted, the venue is able to offer printing services to print your poster for you, so you do not need to worry about transporting it to the venue. Further detail will be provided upon acceptance. This is available for presenters attending the conference onsite.

Review & Selection Process

Double-Blind Review

Authors and affiliations will be removed from each abstract and they will be reviewed by two reviewers against a scoring rubric.

Selection Process

The Program Committee will allocate presentations to the program considering the score of the abstract, recommendations from reviewers, the author’s preference for presentation format, and the balance of the program.

Abstract authors will be notified of acceptance, rejection or change of format via email at the date specified above. Presenters are then required to confirm their acceptance and their participation in the conference. Unsuccessful abstracts submitted for oral presentation will be offered a poster presentation if the selection criteria are met. No correspondence will be entered into as to why individual abstracts did not receive an oral presentation.

Scoring

All submissions will be reviewed against set criteria to ensure consistency and fairness in the review process.

  • The subject is original, contemporary and significant / relevant.
  • The concept, methodology and supporting theory is sound.
  • The abstract is clearly written and organised coherently.
  • The results / findings are informative and comprehensive.
  • The topic is of broad appeal.
  • The subject clearly addresses one or more of the conference themes.

Submission & Presentation Information

Authors’ Permission

By submitting an abstract all authors are deemed to have agreed to release the content to the conference organisers and give permission to publish the abstract and presentation in all conference publications including on the website, in the app and printed material.

Presenter Guidelines

A set of guidelines to assist presenters will be made available before the conference.

Cancellations or Change of Presenter

Please avoid late cancellations or changing the presenter as material will be pre-printed with the speaker’s name and organisation and cannot be changed at a later date. If you need to cancel or change the presenter, please advise Conference Design at mail@conferencedesign.com.au as early as possible.

Prizes and Awards

See the Awards page for the presentation awards offered.

Disclosure Of Interest Statement

We recognise the considerable contribution that industry partners make to professional and research activities. We also recognise the need for transparency and the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by acknowledging these relationships in publications and presentations. Where relevant, all authors must include a disclosure of interest statement in their abstract and if accepted in their presentation. For example, The Melon Institute and Metabolism Corp are funded by the University of Oxbridge, UK. No pharmaceutical grants were received in the development of this study.

Medical Technology Association of Australia Code of Practice

If your presentation refers to medical devices, your abstract and presentation must comply with the Medical Technology Association of Australia Code of Practice.

Speaker Biography

A brief biography of the presenter is to be provided when you submit your abstract. Biographies may include the presenter’s position, career details and major work achievements. Biographies should be written in the third person. If your abstract is accepted, your biography will be used when introducing you as a speaker at the conference.

Uploading Your Presentations and Posters

You will be sent links to upload your PowerPoint slides and posters via Drobox.

Publishing your Presentation in the Online Portal

Presentations will be made available to registered delegates for viewing in the online portal for three months unless you advise otherwise. Any additional files authors choose to share via the online portal, as well as live Q & A/panel discussions, will also be available to view during and after the presentation. Access to the portal will be password protected and limited to conference registrants. If presentations are to be used or published in any other format or forum, your specific consent will be requested.

Permission for Material Presented

Please ensure you have documented permission to use any images, music or other content in your abstract and presentation. Do not include any images copied from the internet. Getty Images and other image agencies crawl the internet looking for images that have been copied without the appropriate licenses. You are liable for all copyright infringements that arise from your presentation.

Copyright and Ownership of Material

All materials, including but not limited to presentations, slides, posters, abstracts, papers, and any other written or visual content presented at the event, are the intellectual property of us or the respective authors and presenters. The authors or presenters retain ownership rights to their materials.

Will People be Able to Record or Download My Presentation?

During the registration process, attendees agree to the conference Terms & Conditions, which include rules on unauthorised photography and recording of conference material. We cannot enforce this rule completely, so presenters should assume a participant may take unauthorised photographs, screenshots, audio, or video recordings. You may wish to adjust the content of your presentation accordingly. Presentations in the online portal and conference app are available only to view and cannot be downloaded.

Audio Visual Equipment Available

Each session room will be equipped with the following equipment:

  • A presentation laptop running Windows 10 or 11
  • Data projector
  • Screen
  • Lectern
  • Microphone, including sound for your presentation
  • A clicker to progress your slides
  • A laser pointer or mouse for pointing

All slides will be run from the presentation computer.

If you have a complex presentation, which includes multiple media files, we suggest you bring your laptop as a backup in case of difficulties loading your presentation.

If you use a Mac, have a complex presentation or require a specific or uncommon program, we suggest you bring your laptop as a backup in case of difficulties loading your presentation. You will need to arrange this in advance with the AV technicians. Please provide any specific audio-visual requirements to the Conference Secretariat at mail@conferencedesign.com.au.

PowerPoint Presentation Tips

  • All presentations should be in PowerPoint.
  • PowerPoint should be in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
  • Video and audio clips should be embedded in your slides rather than linked to external files.
  • There should be no more than 5 x 1-line bullet points per slide.
  • The optimum title text is 45 – 55 points and no smaller than 36 points.
  • Body text should be at least 26 points.
  • Avoid UPPERCASE letters as they are hard to read.
  • Please keep to the time limit of your presentation

Speaker Preparation Room

Please bring your presentation to the conference on a USB stick as a backup. Go to Speaker’s Preparation room at least 4 hours before or the day before your presentation. A technician will be available to load and check your presentation and to discuss any audio-visual queries you may have. If you are not providing slides for your presentation, please advise the AV technician in the Speaker’s Preparation room 4 hours before your session.

Writing an Abstract

An abstract is a short document that captures the interest of potential attendees of your session. Your abstract should engage the reader by telling them what your presentation is about. The title of the proposed presentation is also important; short attention-catching titles are the most effective, however, it is also important to ensure that the title describes the subject.

These are questions to consider when writing your abstract.

  • Does the title succinctly describe the topic?
  • Does the abstract clearly state the topic of the presentation?
  • Does the abstract say how the research or project was or is being undertaken?
  • Does the abstract give a concise summary of the findings?
  • Does the abstract indicate the value of the findings and whom the findings will benefit?
  • Does the abstract engage the reader by telling them why they should attend the presentation?
  • Is the abstract well written in terms of conciseness, language, and grammar?
  • Does the abstract conform to the structure outlined and the word limit?

While the format of your abstract will vary with the topic and type of information you are presenting, most abstracts will include the following:

  • Background of the project or initiative,
  • Method of research or project implementation,
  • Results of the project or research
  • Discussion of the outcomes and implications.

Finally, your abstract should not include diagrams or images; references are not required in the abstract.

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